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Virginia Beach collective bargaining task force recommends what issues employees can negotiate

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Virginia Beach collective bargaining task force recommends what issues employees can negotiate


VIRGINIA BEACH — The City Council has not yet considered whether to allow collective bargaining by city employees, but a task force has completed its report on what those negotiations could entail.

The Virginia Beach City Council has been approached by multiple employee associations expressing interest in organizing collective bargaining agreements since 2021. However, the city has not yet received certification from a majority of public employees in a unit requesting collective bargaining, which would require a formal vote on the matter.

Earlier in 2023, at the urging of Mayor Bobby Dyer, the City Council decided to create a task force to make recommendations on the scope of the bargaining and the number of units. The 11-member task force in Virginia Beach was comprised of leaders of city workforce unions, two former police and fire chiefs and former City Council member Jim Wood.

It began to meet in September and concluded its work Nov. 17. A copy of the report, dated Dec. 6, was recently provided by the city to The Virginian-Pilot.

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The report does not include any cost estimates for the city if collective bargaining was approved, but it’s specific about the issues that employees would be able to negotiate under a collective bargaining agreement.

The recommendations include bargaining power over wages, salaries and other forms of monetary compensation as well as health insurance premiums, among others. In terms of working conditions, the task force made several recommendations including to allow bargaining for tools, equipment and vehicles.

Subjects prohibited from collective bargaining are also outlined in the report and mostly reference matters controlled by federal and state law or the city code.

As for the number of bargaining units, the task force recommended no more than five with the following makeup: fire/EMS; police; service, labor and trades; administrative and technical; and professional.

“We‘re thankful that City Council took that step to inquire and get that information,” said Max Gonano, task force chair, who is also a Virginia Beach firefighter and president of the Virginia Beach Professional Fire and EMS union. “A lot of work went into it by the various members.”

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City staff and representatives from the Virginia Labor and Employment Relations Association, of which the city is a member, met with the taskforce to provide information.

Collective bargaining is the process in which working people, through their unions, negotiate contracts with their employers to determine their terms of employment, including pay, benefits, hours, leave, job health and safety policies, ways to balance work and family, and more, according to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.

Virginia was one of a few states with a blanket ban on collective bargaining for public sector employees until 2020, when the Democrat-controlled General Assembly enacted a new law, effective 2021, punting the final say to localities.

To engage in the process, cities must approve a law or resolution. It can’t restrict the governing body’s authority to establish a budget or appropriate funds. Strikes by public employees remain prohibited.

The Norfolk City Council recently denied collective bargaining for its city employees, and instead created “employee committees” to meet with the city manager. But the Portsmouth City Council last month gave city employees the greenlight to pursue collective bargain, making it the first Hampton Roads city to take that step.

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It’s unclear if the Virginia Beach City Council will discuss the report any time soon. No date has been set, according to a city spokesperson.

“We’re patiently awaiting our opportunity to present to council,” Gonano said.

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com



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Virginia Basketball Holds Off Manhattan 74-65 | Key Takeaways

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Virginia Basketball Holds Off Manhattan 74-65 | Key Takeaways


Virginia (4-2) got back in the win column with a 74-65 victory over Manhattan (3-3) on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena. Here are our five quick takeaways from the Cavaliers’ win over the Jaspers.

Virginia was in serious need of a win after suffering those two humbling losses to Tennessee and St. John’s in The Bahamas. But a convincing and comfortable victory would have been even better and for a while, it seemed like the Cavaliers were on their way to doing just that. UVA led by as many as 15 points in the first half and opened up a 16-point advantage midway through the second half. But rather than putting the game away, Virginia let Manhattan hang around and the visiting Jaspers were in a situation where they were fouling to stop the clock in the final minutes, narrowing the deficit to as little as six points. A win is a win, but this was far from a confidence-boosting performance.

Virginia went with a new starting lineup on Tuesday night, as Andrew Rohde replaced TJ Power. Rohde has been playing very well recently, particularly with his resurgent outside shot, while Power came into this game shooting 25% from beyond the arc this season.

Power initially responded well to the benching, swishing a corner three shortly after he first entered the game, hitting the deck for a loose ball, and coming up with a steal to stop a Manhattan fastbreak. But he wound up playing only six minutes, fewest among Cavaliers who saw the floor in the game. That does not bode well for the Duke transfer.

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Read Val’s Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.

Rohde, on the other hand, had another solid game and was perhaps the top performer for the Hoos on Tuesday night. Though he missed his only three-pointer, which was a desperation off-balanced heave at the end of the shot clock, Rohde finished with a season-high 14 points, two assists (with one turnover), two rebounds, and four steals. Rohde showed excellent feel for the game, getting exactly where he wanted to go and exhibiting some nice touch on a couple of floaters plus a short jumper off the glass. If Rohde is playing like this and his three-point shot continues to be there, this could be a big season for the former St. Thomas transfer.

The main reason why this game continued to be close deep into the second half is because UVA’s defense frequently broke down and gave up open shots to Manhattan, particularly from the perimeter. The Jaspers shot 11/26 (42.3%) from beyond the arc and and seven different players knocked down a three. A couple of those Manhattan triples were well-contested, but the vast majority of them were wide-open. That’s very concerning and shows that this Virginia defense, with its many new faces, is still very much a work in progress.

Virginia’s offense was pretty well neutralized by Tennessee and St. John’s in The Bahamas. Tuesday night against Manhattan was a small step in the right direction, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

Let’s start with the good. Five different Cavaliers scored in double figures, including a game-high 18 points from Isaac McKneely, who hit three of his four three-point attempts and went 5/6 from the free throw line. We still think McKneely needs to shoot way more, but we’ll leave that alone for now. Dai Dai Ames scored 10 points and dished out five assists, but fouled out of the game. Blake Buchanan made his first four shots and finished with 11 points and five boards. Cofie made five of his seven shots and finished with 10 points and five boards. The best part of the game was that Virginia had 15 assists on 29 made baskets and turned the ball over only eight times, a vast improvement over the team’s turnover issues in The Bahamas.

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Virginia outscored Manhattan 42-22 in the paint. That looks like a good stat, but it’s also an inevitable stat because of UVA’s size advantage over the Jaspers, whose tallest player in the rotation is 6’8″. Still, Manhattan snared 10 offensive rebounds and scored 11 second-chance points. In The Bahamas, UVA was dominated on the glass and was simply outmatched from a physicality and athleticism standpoint. Nothing we saw from the Cavaliers on Tuesday night did anything to alleviate those concerns.

Up next, Virginia remains at home for another (supposed) tune-up game against Holy Cross on Friday at 4pm at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia vs. Manhattan Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball

UVA Basketball: Ten Things We Learned About Virginia in The Bahamas

Virginia Basketball Falls to St. John’s 80-55 | Key Takeaways

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Virginia vs. Manhattan Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball

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Virginia vs. Manhattan Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball


Virginia (3-2) is set to host Manhattan (3-2) on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. Follow along with score updates, play-by-play, and live analysis for the game in the thread below. Updates will be posted at each timeout in reverse chronological order with the most recent updates at the top of the article. Refresh the page for updates.

As we await our 7pm tip between Virginia and Manhattan on the ACC Network, read a full preview of the game here: Virginia Basketball vs. Manhattan Game Preview, Score Prediction

Virginia has posted its starting five for tonight’s game:
– Dai Dai Ames
– Isaac McKneely
– Andrew Rohde
– Elijah Saunders
– Blake Buchanan

Notably, TJ Power has been replaced by Andrew Rohde in the starting lineup after starting the first five games of the season. Power is shooting 25% from three (4/16), while Rohde is currently shooting 50% from beyond the arc (7/14).

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  • Virginia and Manhattan will meet on Tuesday night for just the second time ever and first time since March 19th, 1993, when the Cavaliers defeated the Jaspers 78-66 in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament.
  • UVA is 9-0 against current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
  • Virginia’s last game against a MAAC team was back in 2012, when the Cavaliers defeated Fairfield 54-45 at John Paul Jones Arena.
  • UVA is 2-0 at John Paul Jones Arena this season and 3-0 against unranked opponents this season.

Read more Virginia men’s basketball news and content in the links below:

UVA Basketball: Ten Things We Learned About Virginia in The Bahamas

Virginia Basketball Falls to St. John’s 80-55 | Key Takeaways

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Gets Skunked by Tennessee in The Bahamas

Virginia Basketball Falls to Tennessee 64-42 | Key Takeaways



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Suspect steals property from store, assaults employee in Virginia

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Suspect steals property from store, assaults employee in Virginia


A man has been arrested after entering a store in McLean, stealing merchandise and assaulting an employee. 

The suspect has been identified as Calvin Hughes Jr, of Washington D.C.

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Leesburg Pike robbery suspect 

Police responded to the 8300 block of Leesburg Pike in McLean for a commercial robbery on November 21 around 11:00 a.m. According to police, the suspect entered the store, stole merchandise, and assaulted an employee. 

Hughes Jr. was identified and arrested nearby for robbery and is being held without bond. 



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